Animal traps are well known in the art. The most common type of animal traps has been a snap trap with bait attached to a trigger mechanism which can lock and release a spring loaded striker to slam the animal attempting to take the bait. This type of trap has an inherent disadvantage. The trap can be difficult and dangerous to load since the trigger mechanism has to be manipulated with hand in the striking zone. It is quite often that the striker is released accidentally and hurt the user's hand.
A variety of animal trap designs have been proposed to overcome aforementioned disadvantage. One type of traps comprises a base, a jaw pivotally mounted on the base, a trigger, and a spring extending between the base and the jaw. This type of traps is so arranged that, when the jaw is rotated to an open position, the tension line of the spring is slightly above the pivot axis, which maintains the jaw in the open position. The jaw can be moved by the animal taking the bait. When the displacement brings the tension line passing through the pivot axis, the trap is triggered to close. The trap may be made of sheet metal, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,138,092 to Evans, or made of molding plastic, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,544 to Leyerle, et al. This type of traps reduces the danger to the user since it is set by pressing rear end of the jaw which is outside of the striking zone. However, this type of traps has limited sensitivity because a certain animal weight is required to move the jaw to pass the pivot axis of rotation to close. Another type of traps has been designed to entrap instead of striking the animal. The trap usually comprises a casing with one or two open ends for the entrance of animals, and a trigger which actuates moving open ends to close. For the trap having two open ends constitute a through runway, a wary animal may be more apt to venture into it than into a trap having only one open end. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,348 to Chu describes an animal trap comprising a main body and two rotative doors. Each door is controlled by a latch. A trigger actuates both latches to move and causes the two doors close simultaneously. The trap can be used with or without bait when it is placed against a wall. This type of traps is safer but more complicated to use.
There is still a need for a novel type of animal trap which is highly sensitive, easy to set and safe to use.